France has already secured a place in the Under 19 Mixed Doubles final at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar after both of its remaining pairs progressed to the semi-finals. Top seeds Antoine NOIRAULT and Leana HOCHART produced another commanding performance, defeating Ivan KAHN of the Netherlands and Julia LEAL of Portugal 3-0 (13-11, 11-8, 11-8). They will now face teammates Nathan LAM and Jade HUYNH, who overcame Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Manon LOTH 3-1 (12-10, 6-11, 12-10, 11-9). The other semi-final will see Portugal’s Tiago ABIODUN and Mariana SANTA COMBA take on Romania’s Robert ISTRATE and Bianca MEI ROSU. ABIODUN and SANTA COMBA continued their impressive run after eliminating the second seeds in the previous round, edging Poland’s Marcel BLASZCZYK and Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 10-12, 11-7, 11-9). ISTRATE and MEI ROSU also recovered from losing the opening game to defeat Khai Noah LAM of Norway and Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-2). Tiago ABIODUN said: “It was a really tough match. From the start, I believed we always had a chance. The third game was very important because it was so close. At 10-4, I just kept telling myself, ‘Next point, next point, next point.’ Then it became 10-9, and on match point I hit a ball that would have gone out if it hadn’t clipped the edge. It touched the table, and I’m very happy. This is the first time Mariana and I have played together, and I think we’re improving with every match. I’m really happy with the way she’s playing, and with my own level as well. Now we have a semi-final to win, and our goal is the gold medal.” Bianca MEI ROSU explained: “This medal is very special for us because it’s our first European Championships playing together. It’s a big achievement, and I hope we can continue like this tomorrow.” Robert ISTRATE added: “Our first match today wasn’t our best—we had to fight all the way and won 11-9 in the deciding game. In the quarter-finals we played much better, even though our opponents were stronger. I think we’re improving with every match. Tomorrow we want to play our best table tennis, show our true level, and hopefully reach the final.” Earlier in the day, the Round of 16 produced only one major surprise, with the majority of the leading pairings progressing to the quarter-finals. Top seeds Antoine NOIRAULT and Leana HOCHART of France defeated No. 13 seeds Jan MRUGALA and Karolina HOLDA of Poland in straight games, while second seeds Nathan PILARD and Nina GUO ZHENG of France were upset by No. 9 seeds Tiago ABIODUN and Mariana SANTA COMBA of Portugal. Third seeds Robert ISTRATE and Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania overcame No. 12 seeds Luca KHIDASHELI and Irina GIMENO FONT of Spain in four games. No. 5 seeds Nathan LAM and Jade HUYNH of France beat No. 10 seeds Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria and Lilou MASSART of Belgium, while No. 6 seeds Ivan KAHN of the Netherlands and Julia LEAL of Portugal recovered to defeat No. 31 seeds Dario SALCEDO and Renata SHYPSHA of Spain in five games. No. 7 seeds Marcel BLASZCZYK and Katarzyna RAJKOWSKA of Poland also needed the full distance before overcoming Daniil VITORSKI and Lizaveta TSIMASHKOVA of AIN. No. 8 seeds Khai Noah LAM of Norway and Veronika POLAKOVA of Czechia edged No. 23 seeds Aleksei SAMOKHIN and Aleksandra BOKOVA of AIN in a five-game thriller, while Italy’s Francesco TREVISAN and Manon LOTH eliminated No. 35 seeds Serafim ORLOV and Eseniia SHIROKOVA of AIN in four games. Semi-finals Antoine NOIRAULT, Leana HOCHART (France) – Nathan LAM, Jade HUYNH (France) Tiago ABIODUN, Mariana SANTA COMBA (Portugal) – Robert ISTRATE, Bianca MEI ROSU (Romania)

The race for the Under 15 Mixed Doubles title at the European Youth Championships in Gondomar has reached the medal stage, with the top seeds, Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye, leading the semi-final line-up. The Turkish duo secured their place on the podium with a straight-games victory over Poland’s Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO, 3-0 (12-10, 11-6, 11-8). “I think we played very well in this quarter-final, so we’re really happy to have secured a medal. This morning we were 0–2 down against the Russians, but we believed in ourselves and managed to come back and win. That gave us confidence, and I think we’re playing even better now. Of course, we want to become champions, but first we have to play well. Then we’ll have our chance,” said Görkem OCAL. The Turkish pair will face Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN in the semi-finals after the unseeded duo produced another remarkable comeback. Trailing France’s Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT by two games, SAVELEV and KHARLOVA recovered to win 3-2 (6-11, 4-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10). The second semi-final will feature Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland against Sweden’s Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD. MAYOROV and NAWROCKA booked their place with a 3-1 victory over Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR (11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 11-5), while ELLERMANN and BENJEGARD survived a thrilling five-game battle against AIN pair Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA, prevailing 3-2 (10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 12-10). “This was the most important match for both of us because it decided whether we would win a medal at the European Championships. For me, this is the most important competition of the year, so we’re really happy. It’s the first time we’ve played together, and so far it’s been going really well. I hope we’ll have the chance to play together more often in the future,” said Ladimir MAYOROV. Earlier in the day, the Round of 16 produced few surprises, with most of the seeded pairs progressing to the quarter-finals. Top seeds Görkem OCAL and Ela Su YONTER of Türkiye defeated Germany’s Tien Nghia PHONG and Lotta ROTHFUSS 3-0, while No. 11 seeds Quentin SANDONA and Albane ROCHUT of France also advanced in straight games, overcoming Ukraine’s Volodymyr NEVIZHYN and Veronika PRYSHCHEPA. No. 5 seeds Ladimir MAYOROV of Spain and Aleksandra NAWROCKA of Poland withstood a spirited comeback from AIN pair Matvei MANANKOV and Amina ILIMBETOVA to record a 3-2 victory. No. 27 seeds Nazar BAKIROV and Alisa USMANOVA of AIN beat Sung Bing CHEN of Austria and Michelle WU of Switzerland 3-0, while Romania’s David TORO and Maya MADAR eliminated the fourth seeds Louis FEGERL of Austria and Adela BRHELOVA of Czechia in four games. No. 66 seeds Artem SAVELEV and Daria KHARLOVA of AIN continued their impressive run with a straight-games victory over Israel’s Nir ENGLER and Gali BEZALEL. No. 8 seeds Hubert KWIECIŃSKI and Lena PUZIO of Poland defeated England’s Oscar NIKOLLI and Alyssa NGUYEN 3-1. The only highly seeded pair to exit the competition in the Round of 16 were No. 9 seeds Jakub TURECKI and Lucja KOBOSZ of Poland, who were beaten 3-1 by second seeds Emil ELLERMANN and Siri BENJEGARD of Sweden.